Immunomodulatory components of Trichinella spiralis excretory-secretory products with lactose-binding specificity.

The immunomodulatory potential of Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae excretory-secretory products (ES L1) has been well documented in vitro on dendritic cells (DCs) and in animal models of autoimmune diseases. ES L1 products possess the potential to induce tolerogenic DCs and consequently trigger regulatory mechanisms that maintain immune homeostasis. The use of ES L1 as a potential treatment for various inflammatory disorders proved to be beneficial in animal models, although the precise immunomodulatory factors have not yet been identified. This study aimed at the isolation and characterization of ES L1 components that possess galectin family member properties. Galectin-1-like proteins (TsGal-1-like) were isolated from ES L1 based on the assumption of the existence of a lactose-specific carbohydrate-recognition domain and were recognized by anti-galectin-1 antibodies in Western blot. This TsGal-1-like isolate, similar to galectin-1, induced DCs with tolerogenic properties and hence, the capacity to polarize T cell response towards a regulatory type. This was reflected by a significantly increased percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and significantly increased expression of IL-10 and TGF-β within this cell population. Proteomic analysis of TsGal-1-like isolate by mass spectrometry identified nineteen proteins, seven with annotated function after blast analysis against a database for T. spiralis and the UniProt database. To our surprise, none of the identified proteins possesses homology with known galectin family members. Nevertheless, the isolated components of ES L1 possess certain galectin-1 properties, such as specific lactose binding and the potential to elicit a regulatory immune response, so it would be worth further investigating the structure of sugar binding within isolated proteins and its biological significance

Analiza kvaliteta vode reke Jablanice na osnovu zajednice vodenih makroinvertebrata

Cilj rada je da se prikažu rezultati ocene kvaliteta vode reke Jablanice (sliv Kolubare) zasnovane na prisutnoj zajednici vodenih makroinvertebrata. Jablanica je relativno kratka (25 km) desna sastavnica, koja u blizini Valjeva sa Obnicom (leva sastavnica) formira Kolubaru. Kolubara, kao poslednja veća pritoka Save, protiče kroz područje sa izraženim i različitim antropogenim uticajima. Sama Jablanica nastaje spajanjem većeg broja potoka sa obronaka planina Jablanik i Medvednik. U skladu sa zahtevima EU prilikom ocene stanja rečnih sistema neophodno je utvrđivanje referentnih uslova. Da bi se utvrdilo recentno stanje, i usaglašenost sa zahtevima za dostizanje referentnog statusa, izvršeno je ispitivanje ove reke u aprilu 2013. godine na tri lokaliteta gornjeg toka. Kao parametri za ocenu kvaliteta vode, korišćeni su sledeći pokazatelji: ukupan broj taksona, saprobni indeks (SI; Zelinka & Marvan), BMWP i ASPT skorovi, broj taksona grupa Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) i indeks diverziteta (SWI; Shannon-Wiener’s indeks). Zabeležena su ukupno 72 taksona makroinvertebrata. Kao najraznovrsnije grupe izdvajaju se Trichoptera (16 taksona) i Ephemeroptera (15 taksona). U odnosu na saprobnu vrednost, utvrđeno je da je većina prisutnih taksona osetljiva na organsko zagađenje (ksenosaprobni i oligosaprobni organizmi). Dobijene vrednosti praktično svih korišćenih pokazatelja kvaliteta vode, upućuju na veoma dobar status (klasa I), čime su ispunjeni uslovi da se ispitivani deo toka Jablanice može smatrati referentnim stanjem, za potrebe istraživanja sliva Kolubare. Puštanje u rad akumulacije u Rovnima (srednji tok Jablanice) može izmeniti zatečeno stanje, zbog čega je neophodan redovni monitoring

Pastoral care and religious support as a part of treatment of religious patient with the severe form of osteoarthritis

Introduction. Religious needs of patients are consistently being neglected in the clinical medicine. Pastoral care is a religious support which a religious patient receives from priests, chaplains, imams, rabbis or other religious authorities. Religious support, in terms of clinical medicine, is a spiritual support which religious patients obtain from religious and trained medical workers. The aim of this report was to present the effects of pastoral care and religious support in hospital treatment of a 73-year-old patient with the severe form of osteoarthritis. Case report. The 73 year-old, highly religious patient with severe form of osteoarthritis was admitted at the Clinic for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, due to heterogeneous problems in the activities of daily living. The patient walked with difficulty using a stick, suffered pain, and was anxious and depressive. In order to objectively demonstrate effects of both pastoral care and religious support in this patient we performed multiple treatment with reversal design, in which the basic treatment consisting of hospital care, pharmacotherapy and physical therapy (the treatment A) was alternatively changed with the treatment that included combination of the basic treatment and religious support provided by religious physiatrist and physiotherapist (the treatment B) or combination of the basic treatment and pastoral care provided by military priest (the treatment C). The treatment A was applied three times and lasted two weeks, every time. Treatments B and C were applied once and lasted three weeks, each. The order of the treatments was: A - GT B - GT A - GT C - GT A. During the whole treatment period the patients condition was assessed by several measuring scale: the level of depression by The Hamilton Rang Scale for Depression and The Zung Self Rating Depression Scale; the level of anxiety by The Zung Self Rating Anxiety Scale; the functional capability of patient by The Barthel Index and The Functional Independent Measure. Measuring was carried out on a daily basis. In statistical analysis two nonparametric statistic were used: the percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) and the percentage of data points exceeding the median (PEM). PND and PEM values below 0.7 reflect questionable effectiveness of the treatment. The values between 0.7 and 0.9 reflect moderate effects. The values above 0.9 are considered as a highly effective treatment. The anxiety of the patient was moderately to significantly reduced after introducing religious support (treatment B: mean and mean deviation = 50.1 +/- 10.89; variability = 4.598653; mean shift = 0.219626; PND = 0.6; PEM = 0.9) and pastoral care (treatment C: mean and mean deviation = 53.5 +/- 5.90; variability = 9.062591; mean shift = 0.207407; PND = 0.9; PEM = 0.9); The patients depression was reduced after introducing pastoral care (treatment C: mean and mean deviation = 51.3 +/- 4.66; variability = 10.99005; mean shift = 0.08881; PND = 0; PEM = 0.9). On the contrary, the patients functional capability was not significantly improved. Conclusion. In the highly religious patient with severe osteoarthritis pastoral care and religious support, applied along with the standard medical treatment of this condition, produced some beneficial effects on anxiety and depressive mood, but with no significant effect on patients functional capability

Drugs for spontaneous coronary dissection: a few untrusted options

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome that is often overlooked, misdiagnosed, and maltreated. Medical treatment poses a significant challenge because of the lack of randomized studies to guide treatment. The initial clinical presentation should guide medical and interventional management. Fibrinolytic agents and anticoagulants should be avoided because they could favor hematoma propagation. In patients with SCAD, antiplatelet therapy should be prescribed especially dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) consisting of aspirin and clopidogrel, whereas potent P2Y12 inhibitors, e.g., ticagrelor and prasugrel, should be avoided. If a stent was used, DAPT should be continued for 12 months. Aspirin only can be an option for patients without “high-risk” angiographic features—thrombus burden, critical stenosis, and decreased coronary flow. Beta-blocking (BB) agents should be used to prevent recurrence of SCAD. There is a general agreement that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers, mineralocorticoid antagonists, and loop diuretics should be used in patients with SCAD experiencing the symptoms of heart failure and a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction below 50%. Although without firm evidence, statins can be used in SCAD due to their pleiotropic properties. The results of a randomized trial on the use of BB and statins are awaited. Aggregation of data from national registries might point out truly beneficial medications for patients with SCAD

Endocytosis and lysosomal degradation of GluA2/3 AMPARs in response to oxygen/glucose deprivation in hippocampal but not cortical neurons

Abstract Global cerebral ischemia results in oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) and consequent delayed cell death of vulnerable neurons, with hippocampal CA1 neurons more vulnerable than cortical neurons. Most AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are heteromeric complexes of subunits GluA1/GluA2 or GluA2/GluA3, and the presence of GluA2 renders AMPARs Ca2+-impermeable. In hippocampal CA1 neurons, OGD causes the synaptic expression of GluA2-lacking Ca2+-permeable AMPARs, contributing to toxic Ca2+ influx. The loss of synaptic GluA2 is caused by rapid trafficking of GluA2-containing AMPARs from the cell surface, followed by a delayed reduction in GluA2 mRNA expression. We show here that OGD causes endocytosis, lysosomal targeting and consequent degradation of GluA2- and GluA3-containing AMPARs, and that PICK1 is required for both OGD-induced GluA2 endocytosis and lysosomal sorting. Our results further suggest that GluA1-containing AMPARs resist OGD-induced endocytosis. OGD does not cause GluA2 endocytosis in cortical neurons, and we show that PICK1 binding to the endocytic adaptor AP2 is enhanced by OGD in hippocampal, but not cortical neurons. We propose that endocytosis of GluA2/3, caused by a hippocampal-specific increase in PICK1-AP2 interactions, followed by PICK1-dependent lysosomal targeting, are critical events in determining changes in AMPAR subunit composition in the response to ischaemia

Minimum Information about T Regulatory Cells: A Step toward Reproducibility and Standardization.

Cellular therapies with CD4+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) hold promise of efficacious treatment for the variety of autoimmune and allergic diseases as well as posttransplant complications. Nevertheless, current manufacturing of Tregs as a cellular medicinal product varies between different laboratories, which in turn hampers precise comparisons of the results between the studies performed. While the number of clinical trials testing Tregs is already substantial, it seems to be crucial to provide some standardized characteristics of Treg products in order to minimize the problem. We have previously developed reporting guidelines called minimum information about tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells, which allows the comparison between different preparations of tolerance-inducing antigen-presenting cells. Having this experience, here we describe another minimum information about Tregs (MITREG). It is important to note that MITREG does not dictate how investigators should generate or characterize Tregs, but it does require investigators to report their Treg data in a consistent and transparent manner. We hope this will, therefore, be a useful tool facilitating standardized reporting on the manufacturing of Tregs, either for research purposes or for clinical application. This way MITREG might also be an important step toward more standardized and reproducible testing of the Tregs preparations in clinical applications

Amplifiers with improved intermodulation performances for multichannel applications

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